Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Nothing new to report. I've got a bit of a cold so I'm a little miserable at the moment. Weather was beautiful today. I wonder how long until it snows....

Today is my only day off this week. So I'm trying to be productive, get some rest, and enjoy myself. So far so good. The laundry is done, my room is sort of clean and I'm catching up on bills and stuff.

This week is another busy work week. I look forward to the slower pace of winter.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

The night started out with my coworker claiming that I wasn't doing enough side work ( I won't even get into that). Towards the middle of the night, as we reach our busy peak, I have a trouble table. An "8 top" or party or eight people, comes in and sits at 2 separate tables right across from each other, but in 2 different sections. When I talked to the hostess, she said they didn't have a large table available for them so they were siting separately. Since I had just been double sat, Iwona, who had the other 1/2 of the group in her section was going to take both tables.

Keep in mind that we charge 18% Gratuity for parties of 6 or more (even if the aren't all at the same table)

Well it became apparent that one lady at the table was kind of in charge and calling the shots. After Iwona talked to her, she found out that the lady had chosen to sit at 2 separate tables so they wouldn't have to pay the gratuity. She assured Iwona that one person at the other table would be paying that bill and she would be paying the bill at her table....( Almost like they were 2 separate tables that didn't even know each other) Soooo anyways, I wind up having to take her table since they were choosing to eat separately. It took me a while to actually get over to the table for their order because I was already so busy.

As I talk to Iwona throughout the service of these tables, she informs me that no one at her table could even speak English, and that she had to come to my table to get their order from the "Lady in charge." She had to do this all night if the table needed anything. Also at the end of the night, this lady had Iwona bring the table's check to her (and paid with the same card she used for the bill I dropped for her table)...

Iwona and I were both pissed that this lady had the balls to lie to us about them being 2 separate tables with 2 separate checks, when she herself handled everything....

As I returned her sales slip to her before she left, I told her (as politely as I could manage) that next time, even if her family sits on 2 opposite sides of the dinning room...she WOULD be paying the 18 % gratuity, and it was not negotiable!

She left each of us servers a $5 tip (10 total at her expense) her 2 checks together came to about $90!!

Some people are so fucking cheap!!

We don't charge that gratuity just for shits and giggles, its there because as the number of a party increases, the difficulty of serving them goes up also.

After work, I completely crashed.

It's so mentally exhausting kissing ass all night, that the only peace I get is in my sleep. And that's not always safe either. I have work nightmares sometimes too... Yikes!

And YES 18% is what you should be tipping your server if the service is good. 20% for excellent service, 15% for not so good service, and never less than 10% for terrible service. These percentages are backed up by CNN Money Talk, and can be found on their website.

Also, please keep in mind that Good service from your server is different than kitchen problems.

Try to decipherweather any problems you had during your dining experience were because of your server or if it was something out of their hands (kitchen problems include misscooked food or lengthiness of food cook time) If a server shows good service in spite of these mishaps, their tip should not be affected.

Everyone does deserve good service though, so don't be affriad to have expectations of your server.

That's all for my Restaurant class for today. Tune in next time to see what else I'm bitching about...lol

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Summer has come and gone. It is now September. Slowly, the days are getting shorter and the nights are getting colder. Summer was busy, crazy and stressful, but still it was slower than the year before. No doubt due to the slow economy. This meant more foriegners. And foriegners only tip 10% if they tip at all. Needless to say, I didn't make quite as much as I wanted to this summer.

I'll tell you one thing, the ability of some people to treat us servers the way they do, amazes me. I had a gentleman that after waiting 25 min for his food (mind you, we don't precook anything here..this isn't McDonalds...our food takes time), became very hostile and aggressive with me. Saying things like "I don't need to hear this crap from you"... when I tried to explain that he hadn't been waiting that long (especially since his family had our complimentary bread, drinks and salad while they waited). He also raised his voice again stating, "well that's your job, isn't it" when told that the Roasted 1/2 Chicken he ordered needs to be cooked and that takes about 20 minutes.

Either way, It took every ounce of strength I had to not say "Sir, I don't know where you're used to eating, but this is not Applebees (meaning that vot every item on our menu is frozen and can be fried in just a few short minutes) here is your check, please don't come back!!!!"

I am so ready for winter to come again. Almost everyone is leaving this winter. So it should be mostly new staff members, and only about 20-30 people total. I really loath driving in the snow. It's not like driving in a snowy city. 10 feet deep in snow on a dangerously windy mountain road, in a car that wasn't built for the snow..hmmm. Not fun.

Did I reach my goal and pay off my debt this summer?... Um, sadly, not even close! Which is why I am staying for the winter. I need to buckle down and start saving.

Thank God for my friend Keith, I don't know what I would do up here without him. We remind each other that there is a world off this mountain(which is easy to forget up here).

Sunday, March 1, 2009

I'm back in the groove of things. I'm back in the States, at work, just passing the time. Business is picking up here. Soon the summer season will be upon us and I will be working like a crazy person. Its always hard working in a resort-like area. If you stay long enough, you see friends come and go, and the seasons change. One day you stop and look around, and you realize, you're already living the life you're still planning & preparing for. Its funny how that happens.

My roomate went back to Malaysia, so I'm all by my lonesome at the moment. Soon my other girlfriends will be leaving me.

We're expecting another storm over the next couple of days. No snow though, just rain.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Ok, So I'm just hanging out here in Lithuania. Its been snowing quite a bit over the last few days. Everything is lightly covered with snow and looks absolutely beautiful. It is slightly chilly though...Irmantas and I rented a nice apartment in Klaipeda. Its in a new building on the 16th floor, so it has an awesome view of the whole city and the Baltic Sea. We are 10 hours ahead of California here (8 hours ahead of Texas, Amanda) So I get to enjoy every day before everyone else.Just in case some of you are wondering what my boyfriend and I did for Valentine's Day, I will tell you. We got totally drunk and went cliff diving! lol. Ok, so that's not true. There are no cliffs here. We went to the Mall and walked around. I reminded Irmantas to buy me some flowers before the flower store closed, and we shared dessert at a restaurant before catching a movie. Yes the movie was in English (it had Lithuanian subtitles though).Seeing Irmantas' parents again was nice. I can say a few more things in Lt now, so I felt more confident trying to talk with them. They're so nice! lol. I also got to meet another of Irmiz's friends and a few of his cousins. I liked all of them also.So after being really sick for the first week I was here, I'm feeling much better and ready to get out. But even though I'm dying to get out and take pictures, once I feel that icy Baltic breeze, I turn around and go straight back inside. I've been watching a lot of TV. Mostly the same 3 channels: MTV, VH1, and Discovery. They're the only English channels on TV here. Lol.Ok, I should go. It's pretty late here. Until next time.. Viso (bye)

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Hello again! So I've done my laundry and I'm almost finished packing. Dinner was pretty good tonight.Tomorrow morning I will drive to San Jose and check into my hotel. I plan on getting my nails done and taking care of some last minute things (bills, etc.)Thursday morning, I'll catch the shuttle to the airport and hop on my first flight. I'll be flying to Chicago first. Then to Warsaw, Poland and finally to Riga, Latvia. I hope I can sleep on the flight so i'm not so tired when I get there.Its beautiful here in Sequoia. Sunny and "warm." At least, as warm as it gets in the snow.I'll try to update the blog while I'm in Lithuania so everyone knows what's up.:DHope you all have a nice week.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

So it has been beautiful and sunny almost everyday since Christmas. It started raining a few days ago, and continued to rain for 2 and 1/2 days. The rain then turned into what I like to call slush. That was miserable. A day later, it finally turned into snow. It hasn't stopped snowing yet. At first it wasn't too bad, so I made plans with some friends to go into town after work for movie and some Chinese food. As the day progressed, the snow got heavier, the clouds got thicker and visibility became little-to-none. So needless to say, our trip to town had to be cancelled. I can't risk driving in that kind of weather with the little snow experience I have. So now I'm just hanging out in the EDR (employee dining room), watching tv and messing around on my computer. I'm bored but too lazy to walk out into the blustery snow to go to my cabin. lol. So for now, I'll stay put. :D

10 More days until my trip to Europe! I'm totally stoked! I still have a few thing I'd like to get before I go. Mostly things like travel size shampoo, etc.I've booked a hotel for the night before my flight (I fly out of San Jose) It comes with 2 weeks of parking which is great. I'll be flying from San Jose to Chicago, from Chicago to Warsaw, Poland, from Poland to Riga, Latvia. So it should be a lot of traveling. :D

I'm looking forward to the summer here, although, I'll miss my new foreign friends when they leave in March.

That's probably one of the things I love the most about these kinds of jobs; you get to meet some great people!